Clark Starts, Droesch Beats Buzzer, Gibson Returns

By Elio Velez

West Virginia guard Meg Bulger, right, attempts to steal the ball from Boston College guard Clare Droesch. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Clare Droesch is reclaiming her touch with the flair for the dramatic. With her Boston College Eagles tied at 75 with Big East rival West Virginia, Droesch was fouled while driving to the basket with 0.2 seconds in the fourth quarter.

With the West Virginia bench up in arms over a perceived bad call by the refs, the home crowd at the Conte Forum cheered Droesch onto the foul line to win the game.

She missed the first free throw but settled down and calmly hit the second to give the Eagles their 14th win of the season on January 20 for a 76-75 win.

“You live for that, that’s what you dream about, and I was glad I got the chance tonight,” Droesch told Susan Bickelhaupt of the Boston Globe.

Her 17 points and six rebounds helped the Eagles remain the #14 ranked team in the country at 15-2 overall. They are in a dogfight for #1 in the Big East with other top 25 ranked rivals Connecticut, Notre Dame and Rutgers.

The Eagles kept their dominance over West Virginia as they improved to 15-0 lifetime against the Mountaineers. Droesch, a senior co-captain, has started all 16 games this season.

Corrigan On the Shelf

At the St. Francis De Sales vs. South Windsor basketball tournament on January 7, Ray Corrigan watched his old school win two of three games from their old rivals.

The Amherst College senior point guard, who led his team to the NCAA Division III Final Four, will be watching a lot more basketball in the near future than playing it. Corrigan’s season ended on November 30 of last year when he tore a tendon in his left foot playing against Clark University.

Corrigan said he knew something immediately was wrong with his foot after scoring on an uncontested lay-up. When he landed, the foot gave out and the 6 foot guard could not stand on his own power.

Corrigan will try to get a medical redshirt and play as a fifth year senior in the 2005-2006 season. Amherst is currently at 13-1 on the season.

Also present with Corrigan was another former local standout, Taylor Murphy, who last played for Adelphi University. Murphy recently left the school and is currently looking to transfer to a Division I or Division II school.

Gibson Recovers

Wendell Gibson’s renaissance season for the Hofstra Pride after a troubling sophomore season ended with a torn ALC knee injury against Drexel on January 28, 2004.

“I rehabbed the whole summer to come back to practice,” Gibson said of his intentions to start the season on the team. “But whenever I ran, there was a setback.”

Gibson intended to make his debut for the Pride in December but felt too much soreness in his knee to return. Gibson thought at one point that he would have to medically redshirt this season and hope to return as a fifth year senior in the 2005-2006 season.

While Gibson sat on the bench in street clothes, he watches his teammates fly off to a 10-1 start. Anxious to help his team win a conference title, Gibson worked twice as hard in his rehabilitation to come back.

“I know this team is special because of our chemistry,” Gibson says. “It’s been the best. They’re unselfish and nobody take the credit.”

In late December, Gibson felt that he had improved enough to make a go at it and returned to the court on January 8.

It was an emotional day for Gibson as he faced off against Drexel, the same team he scored a career high 26 points against and which cut short his junior season.

Fighting off soreness, Gibson had a good return scoring 18 points and 11 rebounds in 25 minutes. With the support from his teammates and coaches, Gibson believes this special year may be culminated in Hofstra winning a CAA conference championship which they haven’t down since the days of Speedy Claxton.

Clark Gains Starting Berth

Rhashon Clark has seen plenty of game action in his first season at Iowa State. The small forward has started in four straight Big 12 conference games but the Cyclones slow start continued with a loss to Colorado in overtime, 54-52, to fall to 0-4 in the Big 12.

Janelle McManus’s final season at Fairfield has not gone as well as she wanted to. With a 3-5 record in the MAAC and a 5-12 overall record, McManus and the Stags are going to have to pick up their game if they want a chance to compete and win the MAAC tournament in March.

Carl Benn’s U-Mass Lowell Riverhawks fell to St. Anselm College in a close battle, 82-79 last Tuesday. Benn played only 24 minutes due to foul trouble.

Arthur Robertson, the former Beach Channel star, has been inserted into the starting lineup for Post University. The Eagles are having a less than stellar season at 3-13 but Robertson has shown the steady play he displayed at Beach Channel. Averaging 9 points per game, the 6’2 guard is the second best rebounder on the team.

Tim Pounds, a former Rocaway beach resident, is currently playing at Colgate University. The 6’5 forward played his high school ball at Spring Creek High in North Carolina. Pounds capped an outstanding high school career by being named to the all-conference and honorable mention to the All-north Carolina team.

Derrick Gabriel, the former Far Rockaway star who led the entire city in scoring and assists in the 2003-2004 season, has withdrawn from SUNY Geneseo for personal reasons.kansas Little Rock’s Elijah Muldrow has received limited time in his first season.